where sass and sacred collide…

Watching a Master

I can’t remember whether my Dad was my superhero when I was little. Well, I mean, except the time that I found out he was visiting Santa Claus to give him my Christmas list. My Dad, friends with Santa Claus. Delivering my list in person. Definitely hero status that day.

But what I do know is that he’s my hero now. We went through the typical hate-each-other-phase in my teen years (okay, I was more the hater than he, but what teenager isn’t?). We’ve survived the mutual eye-rolling contests during my years of becoming wise beyond my years (ahem, I do have the degree to show for it). And we’ve laughed hysterically over the traits that I’ve inherited from him. The good, the bad, and the ugly.

Today I got to spend a whole day with him while he worked. I honestly can’t remember the last time that happened, just he and I. All at once, I was taken back in time to the days I’d spent with him as a kid on the job site he was building. Then, as now, he’d let me pretend to help. I’m not gonna lie, I’m pretty awesome with a tape measure.

Today I got to see a master at work. The way my Dad can see a building, envision its potential, and creatively use space is fascinating. He’s a genius. And it’s always fun to watch a genius work.

When a genius works, it’s like a machine operating at its precise rythym, every gear complimenting the other. It’s like a song perfectly on pitch. It’s like a poem, one whose author is the only one who knows which line is coming next, and then when you hear it, you agree: Yes, that was precisely right, that was the next line.

Now this may all sound a little, well, overly poetic for a daddy-daughter-work-day filled with construction and inspections and homerepairs at hand – but really, it was beautiful.

It was a beautiful reminder that when a Master works, you stop and take notice. It’s been a long time since I’ve been with my Dad on a job site, so it’s been a long time since I’ve remembered his Mastery.

In the same vein, I’m prone to forget my heavenly Father’s mastery. I forget that He’s actually really good at what He does. I try to help Him, and just like the “help” I provide with a tape measure, I probably get in His way more times than not. But when I pay attention to His work, it’s genius. It doesn’t seem so at every moment – in fact, there is a plethora of things I’d redo or undo if I was the Master Designer of this Universe filled with suffering – but when I look, when I pay attention, when I spend the day on one of his job sites, I often discover a result more beautiful than I could have envisioned.